4th Week Activities

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4th Week in the Classroom:

Materials Needed:
  • Cape or colorful sheet (large enough to hold in front of a student and conceal him/her from the class)
  • Lined paper for letter-writing
  • Envelope for each student (optional)

1. Interviewing a Character:
  • Group sits in rows facing a student who is hidden behind a cape that the teacher is holding. When the cape is drawn away, the student no longer stands there. Instead a character from the story is unveiled, ready to be interviewed by the class.
  • Each person enters the space in character and sits in the chair to answer questions from the group. This helps build/create back story.
  • Questions from the audience may include: Who are you? Where do you live” What are you holding? What makes you happy? What are you wearing? What is your day like? Do you have any family? Etc.
  • Characters do not have to answer questions if it gives away too much of the story.
  • Each character interview should take no more than 2 minutes.
  • The interviewing of the entire class could take place in one sitting, or interspersed throughout the week at the teacher's discretion.
  • Reflect with the class: do they feel differently about their character since the start of the week? Why?

2. Write to Your Character:
  • Ask the students to choose a character from the story and write to them. What would you like to say to him or her? Do you have any questions you'd like for your character to answer?
  • Before asking them to write, model a letter you wrote to one of the characters from the Magic Fish, the story the librarian told two weeks ago.

    Dear Fisherman:
    I don't know how you do it! Every time you have a chance to ask the Magic Fish for wish, you ask that wish for your wife. Why don't you ask a wish for yourself? I wonder if you're content with your life. Fishing every day for dinner sounds like fun, except there's a lot of responsibility in having to catch fish everyday for dinner. You must have one wish or two tucked away in the back of your mind. If you have time, could you please respond to my letter and tell me what you wish for? Thank you!

    Sincerely,

    Lorrie Heagy

  • Give students time to write their letter.
  • Ask if any student would like to share their letter by reading it aloud to the class.
  • Reflect: So much of why we choose a particular story is how we connect or relate to it. How do you connect to this story?

3. As Your Character, Respond to Your Letter:
  • Ask each student to respond to the letter they wrote to their character, as the character.

4th Week in the Library:

Materials Needed: cd of calm, lyrical instrumental music

1. Imagining the Feeling of the Start of the Story
  • Ask students to sit in a circle on the rug.
  • Ask them to think about where the story starts, what do you see, how would you describe it?
  • Is it informative, humorous, mysterious, peaceful, dangerous, peaceful, etc?
  • Sequence for announcing the title of your story: 1) Eye contact with audience as you say the title 2) Pause - during that pause the teller is silently rehearsing the 1st sentence in his/her head 3) Then say 1st Sentence of your story.
  • Ask each student to stand up and individually say their title with eye contact, pause, then 1st sentence.
  • Reflect: Beginnings of stories are difficult: it’s a transition ( you need silence to frame it). It must set the tone, connect with your audience and position your body in a confident stance (mountain pose).

2. Recalling Your Story through Silenced Movement:
  • Ask students to stand in a circle and imitate librarian in movement
  • Librarian moves silently to the story, The Magic Fish, which she told two weeks ago. Her movements depict the story in image. she moves too quickly for the audience to be able to put words to her story, but rather we see images.
  • Not all of the movements showed up in her telling two weeks ago. Instead they are a way to help remember the story in images & movement NOT words.
  • Ask the students to now face their circle outwards, so that they are facing the wall. They will move to their stories once the music starts. This activity helps students free themselves from memorizing every single word of their written story and encourage them to use their own words. Importance of learning their story, NOT memorizing it!
  • If students finish up before others, ask those students to sit down where they are (facing the wall) and continue to visualize their story quietly in their minds, while the others finish up moving to their stories.